{{short description|American singer-songwriter and musician (born 1989)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Evan Stephens Hall | image = P4K - Sunday (35855755471).jpg | caption = Hall performing with Pinegrove in 2017 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1989|5|6}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | education = Kenyon College (BA) | occupation = {{flatlist| * Singer * songwriter * musician }} | parents = {{flatlist| * Doug Hall * Tracy Stephens }} | module = {{Infobox musical artist | embed = yes | genre = {{flatlist| * Alt-country * emo * indie rock }} | instrument = {{flatlist| * Vocals * guitar * bass guitar * drums }} | years_active = 2010–present | label = {{flatlist| * Run for Cover * Rough Trade }} | associated_acts = {{flatlist| * Pinegrove * Half Waif }} }} }} '''Evan Stephens Hall''' (born May 6, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Hall is best known as the lead singer & guitarist<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/pinegrove-stages-a-complicated-comeback | title=Pinegrove Stages a Complicated Comeback | magazine=The New Yorker | date=January 13, 2020 | last1=Sanneh | first1=Kelefa }}</ref> of indie rock band Pinegrove. Born in New York City, Hall grew up the son of a musician father, and took instrument lessons locally. During his time at Ohio's Kenyon College, Hall co-founded Pinegrove with drummer and childhood friend Zack Levine.
Pinegrove rose to fame in the mid-2010s with its breakthrough album, ''Cardinal'' (2016), which attracted broad critical acclaim. The band has released five studio albums so far; the most recent being ''11:11'', which was released in January 2022.
==Early life== Evan Stephens Hall was born on May 6, 1989, in New York, New York, to Tracey Stephens<ref name="paste">{{cite news|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/pinegrove/pinegrove-the-best-of-whats-next/|title=Pinegrove: The Best of What's Next|first=Hilary|last=Saunders|date=August 30, 2016|work=Paste|accessdate=February 2, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115151141/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/pinegrove/pinegrove-the-best-of-whats-next/|archive-date=January 15, 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Doug Hall. In June 1992, the family moved to Montclair, New Jersey. Hall's mother briefly operated a women's shelter and was involved in social work,<ref name="p4k-18">{{cite news|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/reckoning-with-pinegrove/|title=Reckoning With Pinegrove|date=September 26, 2018|first=Jenn|last=Pelly|publisher=Pitchfork|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> but now works as an interior designer. Hall's father works in commercial music; he is best known for composing the jingle for financial company J.G. Wentworth.<ref name="ny20">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/pinegrove-stages-a-complicated-comeback|title=Pinegrove Stages a Complicated Comeback|first=Kelefa|last=Sanneh|author-link=Kelefa Sanneh|magazine=The New Yorker|date=January 13, 2020|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> Hall's interests growing up included skateboarding—he aspired to be a professional skateboarder as an adult, but suffered a concussion in his teens that sidelined his interest.<ref name="swal">{{cite web|url=http://www.sirwranglelot.com/2016/03/15/an-interview-with-pinegroves-evan-stephen-hall/|title=An Interview with Pinegrove's Evan Stephens Hall|first= Godfrey|last=Chan|date=March 15, 2016|accessdate=January 22, 2020|website=Sir Wrangle A Lot}}</ref> Hall spent several years camping at Geneva Glen, a co-educational summer camp located in Indian Hills, Colorado; he was later hired as a counselor in the years before founding Pinegrove.<ref name="ww">{{cite news|url=https://www.westword.com/music/old-friends-new-friends-pinegrove-shares-compassion-and-camp-songs-8137011|title=Old Friends, New Friends: Pinegrove Shares Compassion and Camp Songs|date=July 26, 2016|work=Westword|accessdate=January 22, 2020|first=Katie|last=Moulton}}</ref>
Hall was friends with Pinegrove drummer Zack Levine growing up, and the two attended the local public schools together through Montclair High School.<ref>Glaser, Brian. [https://baristanet.com/2016/03/pinegroves-montclair-roots-showing/ "Pinegrove’s Montclair Roots Are Showing"], Baristanet, March 16, 2016. Accessed March 29, 2022. "The band’s breakthrough album Cardinal was recorded mostly in a Montclair bedroom, and singer-songwriter Evan Stephens Hall says that’s a crucial part of Pinegrove’s sound.... Pinegrove formed when Evan and Zack Levine, who went to Glenfield Middle School and Montclair High School together, came back to NJ after graduating from college."</ref> Both boys’ fathers are in a cover band together—Julie's Party, a roots rock outfit covering acts like Bonnie Raitt and Little Feat.<ref name="lanc">{{cite news|url=https://lancasteronline.com/features/entertainment/pinegrove-frontman-finds-inspiration-in-literature/article_c018004a-3041-11e7-868f-636199df3307.html|title=Pinegrove frontman finds inspiration in literature|first= Jenelle |last=Janci|work=Noisey|date=May 3, 2017|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> Hall grew up taking lessons at Montclair Music Studio, first learning the drums, then bass, and lastly the guitar.<ref name="swal"/> He and Levine began playing music together at seven years old,<ref name="lanc"/> forming their first band, the Pug Fuglies, in the sixth grade. The following year, the duo began playing together in Dogwater, a grunge band, which they focused on throughout high school.<ref name="cos16">{{cite web|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/03/cosign-pinegrove-enjoy-comfy-conversations-through-casual-rock/|title=CoSign: Pinegrove Enjoy Comfy Conversations Through Casual Rock|date=March 31, 2016|publisher=Consequence of Sound|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> During that time, the duo played many shows at Montclair's Serendipity Cafe and expressed the positive impact playing their music in a welcoming and encouraging space had on them.<ref name="spin16">{{cite web|url=http://www.spin.com/2016/02/pinegrove-cardinal-new-album-interview-all-eyes-on/|title=Pinegrove: Getting By With a Little Help From Their Friends|date=February 18, 2016|website=Spin.com|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref>
After graduating from high school in 2007,<ref name="ta"/> Hall attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, from which he graduated in 2011,<ref name="kc">{{cite news|url=https://bulletin.kenyon.edu/feature/young-alumni-to-watch/|title=Young Alumni to Watch|work=Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin|accessdate=January 22, 2020|first=Elizabeth|last= Weinstein}}</ref> majoring in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry. During his tenure there, he also developed a love of semiotics and modernist literature.<ref name="paste"/> He worked at a recycling plant through college, which became the namesake of the Pinegrove song "Recycling".<ref name="ta">{{cite news|url=https://www.theaquarian.com/2017/07/26/onward-an-interview-with-evan-stephens-hall-of-pinegrove/|date=July 26, 2017|title=&&& Onward: An Interview with Evan Stephens Hall of Pinegrove|work=The Aquarian Weekly|accessdate=January 22, 2020|first= Veronica |last= Rajadnya}}</ref>
==Music career== ===Pinegrove=== While at Kenyon College, Hall co-founded Pinegrove with Levine. The group built a grassroots following in the early 2010s with extended plays and do-it-yourself house concerts. They issued their debut album, ''Meridian'', in 2012 via online music platform Bandcamp. Viewing a move necessary to gain notice, the band relocated to Brooklyn, New York. Hall had a difficult experience in New York; in an interview, he remarked that "everything in my life was falling apart during that period."<ref name="p4k16">{{cite news|url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1392-pinegrove-on-how-being-a-good-artist-and-a-good-person-are-the-same-thing/|title=Pinegrove on How Being a Good Artist and a Good Person Are the Same Thing|date=December 15, 2016|first=Jenn|last=Pelly|publisher=Pitchfork|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> He found the frenetic nature of the city unenjoyable and worked excessively to make ends meet.<ref name="vice16">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/small-city-big-world-a-night-with-pinegrove/|title=Small City, Big World: A Night with Pinegrove|website=Noisey|date=March 2016 |access-date=January 22, 2020}}</ref> After nine months, Hall returned to his parents' home.<ref name="swal"/> For the next several years, he lived at home in Montclair, working part-time at a bookstore and focusing on songwriting.<ref name="swal"/>
He distilled this productive writing period into ''Cardinal'', Pinegrove's 2016 breakthrough album. During this era, the band signed to Run for Cover Records, an independent record label from Boston<ref name="nj">{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/2016/01/must-hear_nj_agile_indie-rockers_pinegrove_continu.html|title=Must-hear N.J.: How Faulkner and forest inspired agile indie-rockers Pinegrove|first=Bobby|last=Olivier|date=January 22, 2016|accessdate=January 22, 2020|website=NJ.com}}</ref> known for associating with fourth-wave emo acts. ''Cardinal'' was widely successful, acclaimed by critics for its tone and sincerity. Pinegrove quickly developed a large following of fans and played over 200 shows that year. The band headlined several nationwide tours, consistently selling out mid-sized venues. The band "seemed poised to enlarge its audience significantly" at this moment.<ref name="ny20"/> In November 2017, Hall posted a lengthy statement to the band's Facebook regarding an accusation of "sexual coercion" against him.<ref name="wp19">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/pinegrove-derailed-at-the-height-of-metoo-now-the-band-wants-to-sing-to-its-skeptics/2019/02/25/02ac30b0-391a-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html|title=Pinegrove derailed at the height of #MeToo. Now the band wants to sing to its skeptics.|first=Chris|last=Richards|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 25, 2019|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> Further reports revealed that Hall had a brief relationship with a member of the band's touring team who accused him of using "verbal and contextual pressure" sexually.<ref name="ny20"/> Philadelphia-based mental health nonprofit Punk Talks was involved in facilitating Hall's statement, having done so "without [the accuser's] knowledge, support or permission".<ref name="spin18">{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2018/04/punk-talks-pinegrove-controversy/|title=Punk Talks Controversy: Pinegrove, a Mishandled Allegation, and Finding a Path Forward|first=Anna|last=Gaca|date=April 20, 2018|accessdate=January 22, 2020|work=Spin}}</ref> The situation—resolved via a private mediator between the two—resulted in Pinegrove taking a year-long hiatus at the accuser's request.<ref name="p4k-18"/>
''Skylight''—the band's third full-length—saw release in 2018, and received a muted but positive reaction from fans.<ref name="spin19">{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2019/08/pinegrove-moment-rough-trade/|title=Pinegrove Return With "Moment," Sign to Rough Trade|first=Andy|last=Cush|date=August 28, 2019|accessdate=January 22, 2020|work=Spin}}</ref> The band continued to tour, selling out a nationwide tour between February and March 2019. Later that year, the band announced they had signed to British indie label Rough Trade for their next effort,<ref name="spin19"/> 2020's ''Marigold''.<ref name="cos-19">{{cite web|url=https://consequence.net/2019/10/pinegrove-marigold-album-phase-song/|title=Pinegrove announce new album Marigold, share "Phase": Stream|first=Lake|last=Schatz|website=Consequence of Sound|date=October 30, 2019|access-date=January 22, 2020}}</ref>
In April 2023, Pinegrove announced that Zack Levine would depart the band, and that the remaining members would continue "on a more casual basis". Hall further noted, "I might do solo performances here and there. But we have no plans to perform as a band right now. We’re gonna chill a bit, take some time to finish up odds and ends,” marking the beginning of an indefinite hiatus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Abby |date=2023-04-27 |title=Pinegrove announce departure of drummer Zack Levine and apparent hiatus |url=https://consequence.net/2023/04/pinegrove-departure-zack-levine-hiatus/ |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=Consequence |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Solo career=== In 2017, Hall contributed a solo cover of Green Day's "Burnout" to ''Earth Day: A Tribute to Green Day'', a tribute album; all proceeds went to the Hurricane Maria Community Relief & Recovery Fund.<ref name="stereo-greenday"/>
==Musical style and songwriting== Hall's influences on his songwriting are split between music and literature, owing to his tenure at Kenyon studying English. On the sonic side, Hall has cited Stephen Steinbrink, Ben Lerner, Greta Kline, and Phil Elverum as inspirations.<ref name="cltampa">{{cite news|url=https://www.cltampa.com/music/interviews/article/20839039/interview-pinegroves-evan-stephens-hall|title=Interview: Pinegrove's Evan Stephens Hall talks Kenyon College, primary colors, and getting tired on the road|date=November 3, 2016|work=Creative Loafing Tampa|accessdate=January 22, 2020|first=Ray|last=Roa}}</ref> Hall's earliest musical influences included alternative rock mainstays such as Radiohead, Green Day, and Nirvana.<ref name="spin16"/> In terms of literature, he has also noted novelists James Joyce, William Faulkner,<ref name="lanc"/> Virginia Woolf, and David Foster Wallace,<ref name="amny">{{cite news|url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/pinegrove-frontman-evan-stephens-hall-talks-album-cardinal-1.13527463|title=Pinegrove frontman Evan Stephens Hall talks album 'Cardinal'|first= Hal |last=Bienstock|work=AMNY|date=April 26, 2016|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref> as influences on his work, as well as the short story author George Saunders.<ref name="p4k16"/> Hall has specifically cited Woolf's ''The Waves'' and Wallace's ''Infinite Jest'' as inspirations, commenting that "they made me feel ambitious, in that they have such a specific worldview, and made me question what I have to offer."<ref name="cos16"/>
Hall has referred to Pinegrove as "language-arts rock."<ref name="kc"/> As a songwriter, Hall has emphasized simplicity and immediacy, viewing complexity as a defense mechanism in art.<ref name="p4k16"/> To this end, Hall has depicted himself as a "student of pop music," praising famed hitmaker Max Martin as "arguably the best songwriter of our time."<ref name="p4k16"/> He aims for a conversational tone in his lyricism, believing it expresses meaning more directly.<ref name="cos16"/> His lyrics frequently touch on themes of communication, loneliness, and more general concepts such as color and geometry.<ref name="cltampa"/>
==Discography== ;With Pinegrove * ''Meridian'' (2012) * ''Everything So Far'' (2015) * ''Cardinal'' (2016) * ''Skylight'' (2018) * ''Marigold'' (2020) * ''11:11'' (2022)
;As Evan Stephens Hall *''Earth Day: A Tribute to Green Day'' (2017) (song: "Burnout")<ref name="stereo-greenday">{{cite news|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1965190/stream-new-green-day-tribute-album-featuring-lomelda-ratboys-pinegroves-evan-stephens-hall-more/music/album-stream/|title=Stream New Green Day Tribute Album Featuring Lomelda, Ratboys, Pinegrove's Evan Stephens Hall, & More|date=October 1, 2017|first=Peter|last=Helman|publisher=Stereogum|accessdate=January 22, 2020}}</ref>
;With Tawny Peaks *''In Silver River'' (2014)<ref>{{cite web|title=Tawny Peaks: In Silver River|website=Bandcamp|accessdate=February 4, 2022|url=https://tawnypeaks.bandcamp.com/album/in-silver-river}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons}} * {{Official website|Pinegroveband.com}}
{{Pinegrove}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Evan Stephens}} Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:American bass guitarists Category:Drummers from New Jersey Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American alternative rock singers Category:Singers from New Jersey Category:Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni Category:Musicians from Montclair, New Jersey Category:21st-century American singers Category:Songwriters from New Jersey Category:21st-century American guitarists Category:Guitarists from New Jersey Category:Record producers from New Jersey Category:21st-century American multi-instrumentalists Category:21st-century American male singers Category:American male songwriters